Long Island Rail Road

The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter railroad that runs across Long Island. It has three terminals in New York City - at Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, Jamaica in Queens, and Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn - and several branches terminating in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Table of contents

1 History 2 Lines/branches 3 Colin Ferguson 4 External Links

History

The LIRR's history stretches back to 1832 and the Brooklyn and Jamaica RR Company which built a ten mile stretch of track between Brooklyn and Jamaica. The Long Island Rail Road itself was founded in 1834, leasing the track laid down by the B&J and building its own.

The original plan was not as a local service to serve Long Island, but rather a quicker route from Boston to New York. Trains would run from Boston to Stonington, Connecticut, where the passengers would cross by ferry to Long Island. They would then ride on the LIRR to New York. The reason for this rather complicated plan was the then-considered impossible civil engineering job of building a railroad down through southern Connecticut.

The LIRR thus built its original tracks running straight down the middle of the island, which was largely uninhabited at the time, rather than serving the existing Long Island communities. This route was chosen as simply the fastest way to New York.

The Island-long route was completed in 1844 and at first was highly successful. However, in 1850 railroad tracks were built through that 'impassable' country of southern Connecticut, and a direct overland route from New York to Boston now existed. The LIRR's reason for existence was gone.

The only remaining business was to serve Long Island itself, something the railroad was not built to do. Efforts were made to build branches to them. In 1850 only one such branch existed, but more were built, as well as a number of other railroad companies' branches.

The combination of the loss of the New York to Boston traffic and all the competing railroads made for harsh financial times for both the LIRR and the newer roads. In 1876, the LIRR was bought out by the owner of one of the competing roads, but the Long Island Rail Road name was used for the merged company. Even consolidation could not prevent another receivership in 1879, however.

The road was purchased by Austin Corbin in 1880 and further building took place. By 1900, the LIRR had reached the limits of its expansion. During this period the road was profitable.

In 1901 the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired the Long Island Rail Road and went about an extensive program of improvements. The PRR had long desired a terminal on Manhattan Island itself, instead of in Jersey City. The PRR built a grand station, Pennsylvania Station, with tracks oriented approximately east-west, and dug two sets of tunnels, one under the Hudson River to connect the new station with the Pennsylvania Railroad network, and another set under the East River to connect with the Long Island Rail Road.

Due to New York City laws passed banning steam powered trains within city limits by 1910 following a serious accident caused by smoke and steam in the tunnels near Grand Central Station blocking the view of train crews, an ambitious scheme of electrification was instituted for the new station and the lines in and out, culminating in a large proportion of the LIRR's network being electrified on the third rail DC system. This electrification is still in use today.

After the Second World War the LIRR became more and more of a financial drain on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and eventually it transferred control to the New York MTA.

Lines/branches

All branches (except Port Washington) pass through Jamaica. West of Jamaica, all lines share track. This track leading into the city is known as the "City Terminal Zone"

• Montauk Branch:

This diesel line is the longest LIRR line, going 115 miles east of NYC, to Montauk, New York. It has heavy ridership and frequent service, especially in the summer, with travellers going out to the Hamptons and beaches.

• Babylon Branch:

This is a electrified, two-track main-line and has heavy ridership, because it serves the suburban communitied on Nassau County's south shore.

• Ronkonkoma Branch:

This line also is electrified, with electric service ending at Ronkonkoma. Several daily diesel trains continue beyond to Greenport. This is also known as the "LIRR Main Line".

• Port Jefferson Branch:

This branch provides frequent electric service to Huntington, with some diesel serice continuing to Port Jefferson.

• Hempstead Branch:

This branch is electric, and branches off the Main Line at Queens Village, in the borough of Queens, New York. It continues east to Hempstead through Garden City.

• West Hempstead Branch:

This electric branch spilts off from the Far Rockaway at Valley Stream to West Hempstead. It also makes a stop at St. Albans, in Queens.

• Far Rockaway Branch:

This electric branch connects Far Rockaway in Queens with Valley Stream. It has frequent service.

• Long Beach Branch:

This electric LIRR branch spilts brom the Babylon at Lynbrook. It then heads south to Long Beach.

• Port Washington Branch:

This is the only LIRR branch not to stop at Jamaica. It spilts off the Main Line at Woodside and runs through northwestern Queens past Shea Stadium and into the northwestern corner of Nassau County. It is electic and has heavy ridership and frequent service.

Colin Ferguson

Colin Ferguson was convicted of the 1993 shooting of 25 LIRR passangers, 6 died.

External Links

• Long Island Rail Road Home Page
• http://www.lirrhistory.com/ LIRR unofficial page